A stepfather who murdered a two-year old girl, after subjecting her to severe “assaults,” has ben sentenced to life imprisonment and will be eligible for parole after serving at least, 28 years in prison. Kyle Bevan, 31, inflicted “catastrophic” brain injuries on toddler Lola James in July 2020.
Lola’s mother Sinead James, 30, was sentenced to six years for causing and allowing her daughter’s death at her home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. The sentencing took place at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday.
Sentencing the pair, Mr. Justice Martin Griffiths said Lola died following a “sustained, deliberate and very violent attack”. “I am sure that Kyle Bevan did this as an exercise of power,” Justice Griffiths said. An assertion of superiority over the only person he could feel superior to, a helpless child.
“He has no remorse at all, even now.” At the time, he did not even simulate sadness about Lola’s injuries and critical condition when everyone around him was distraught.” Addressing the court, the judge said that James “prioritized the relationship with Kyle Bevan over concern for her children.”
Lola was attacked on the between July 16 and 17, 2020, whiles she was in Bevan’s care. Lola suffered 101 surface injuries on her body, and also suffered a devastating brain trauma. Bevan claimed, Lola’s injuries were caused by Lola falling down the stairs, after the family dog pushed her.
On the contrary, Justice Martin Griffiths stated, Bevan begun to assault Lola at midnight, and carried on the attacks until she felt unconscious at 6:30am. Justice Griffiths described Lola’s death as “the culmination of several months of physical child abuse.”
Victim’s Statement
In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Lola’s father Daniel Thomas said, “Lola was as bright as the golden sun. She was beautiful, charming and cheeky. Her laugh would fill the room with pure joy.” “Even as a toddler Lola has a passion for the outdoors and everything out there, the birds, bees and butterflies.”
“As a parent, all I could hope for was for her to continue to grow with happiness and health. With the courage in her heart to know she could be anything and do anything she wanted. This will never be now. Lola won’t have another birthday, or ride a bike, or listen to her favorite story. She won’t sing her favorite songs, and I will never get to meet my daughter as a teenager or a woman. All I have left are memories of a beautiful baby and dreams of the child she can never become. I constantly imagine how she would sound and what she would find funny. I miss Lola every single day and my heart hurts every single day. I am grateful that Kyle and Sinead are recognized for Lola’s cruel, defenseless murder. But it doesn’t bring me joy. As any parent can imagine, as any human can imagine, it will never come close to being enough,” Daniel Thomas, Lola’s father continued.
Mr. Daniel Thomas, Lola’s father.
“Lola didn’t just die. She wasn’t just taken from me in the worst way ever possible. She was brutally attacked. Her tiny body was savaged in the evilest way. She didn’t stand a chance. Lola’s little life was filled with filth and chaos at the hands of her mother, who couldn’t even provide her with basic safety in her own home,” Mr. Thomas said.
“The guilt I feel, lives inside me and will never leave, as the memory of Lola lying in a hospital bed fighting to stay alive will remain with me always. All I have been left with is guilt, heartache, pain, and torment.”
It was revealed by jurors, Bevan and James met on Facebook in February 2020, with Bevan moving into the family home just a few days later. The toddler’s death came months after Bevan, a prolific drug user, moved into the family home in Haverfordwest.
Lola had previously suffered a series of injuries in the months leading up to her death including a bloodied nose, a grazed chin and a split lip. All these injuries were covered up by Bevan, with a string of excuses, but during the trial the jury ruled they should have made James realized that Bevan was a threat to Lola.
At trial, the court heard a multi-agency referral, had been made on behalf of James in January 2020, after a reported domestic violence incident with her former partner at her home.
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